Salford Celluloid Centre of Excellence

[Mark Wiggins]

Two days ago I attended the launch of the Salford Celluloid Centre of Excellence (SCCE) in the UK— an ambitious initiative aimed at keeping film practical, accessible and alive.

I went along through my connection with Logmar, and it was genuinely encouraging to see the scale of the commitment. The Centre’s remit is to give filmmakers real, hands-on access to shooting on celluloid across every format — from 8mm through 16mm, 35mm and up to 65mm. SCCE is now home to two Logmar Magellan 65mm cameras, which is extraordinary in itself.

The Centre is backed by Sunbelt Rentals for camera support and Kodak for stock and processing, and is also developing short, practical courses for camera department technicians who want proper experience working with film — something that’s becoming increasingly rare, but increasingly valuable. They are even going to be building a lab up in Salford which is going to be connected to the Centre.

At a time when large-format and celluloid filmmaking is seeing renewed interest at the highest levels, it’s great to see infrastructure being built to support the next generation of crews who actually know how to work with it.

Projects like this matter.

https://www.salford.ac.uk/news/university-unveils-celluloid-centre-of-excellence



[Jon O'Brien]

Way to go, UK!!!!

Shoot film, and know what real filmmaking reeeaaalllly is. The rest is just video.

Edited December 22, 2025 by Jon O'Brien

[Mark Dunn]

Slight shame about the name. Celluloid hasn't been universal since 1922, and extinct since 1951. Mustn't grumble though.

[Mark Wiggins]

2 hours ago, Mark Dunn said:

Slight shame about the name. Celluloid hasn't been universal since 1922, and extinct since 1951. Mustn't grumble though.

Yes. But in a motion picture film context, the meaning of the word has changed.

[Jon O'Brien]

11 hours ago, Mark Wiggins said:

Yes. But in a motion picture film context, the meaning of the word has changed.

Yes that's how I see the word. So many just know what you mean when you say "celluloid" even if it's technically inexact. I find that it tends to work better than "analog" or even "real film" sometimes. Another good thing about using it is that in the minds of the general public it's exclusively associated with movies, so there tends to be no confusion with still photography.

Edited December 23, 2025 by Jon O'Brien

[Steven Wyatt]

Hi all,

Thank you Mark for writing about us!

We were lucky to be featured in BSC magazine: https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/university-of-salford-unveils-salford-celluloid-centre-of-excellence/

If you’re interested, please visit this website for more details and to get a flavour of ‘what we do’ here is a introductory video ‘about us’:

https://vimeo.com/1176265469?fl=pl&fe=sh

If you have any questions, please reach out to scce@salford.ac.uk for more specific enquiries.

https://pipelinemedia.salford.ac.uk/celluloid-film-courses/

We have an upcoming 16/35/65mm 8-day course starting in May:

https://pipelinemedia.salford.ac.uk/gold-standard-8-day-camera-lighting-programme/

You can find us on Instagram @nw_shootfilm if you want to follow what we do.

We have a range of sets, that we shoot on that are part of the course or available for separate hire. Alternatively, please check out our set brochure.

Set Video:

https://vimeo.com/1166339264/95099ba1f6?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Set Brochure:

https://www.canva.com/design/DAHGLrQmHSU/ezH9aEVXf8QbrJcS1BksjQ/view?embed

Hopefully here to stay!

Steve